Compare and Contrast
by Knaix
Summary: After Inoue Orihime’s kidnapping incident,Ichigo is not given permission to go into the world of Hueco Mundo.Although this happens,Ichigo plots his move to enter the Hollow world without Soul society noticing.But what happens when a familiar face enters t
1. The Initiation

**Summary: **After Inoue Orihime's kidnapping incident, Ichigo is not given permission to go into the world of Hueco Mundo. Although this happens, Ichigo plots his move to enter the Hollow world without the Soul society noticing. But what happens when a familiar face enters the scenery? What about the conversations held within the redhead's dreams? Will the truth keep him going or change him forever? Alternate Universe. 

**Pairing:** Grimmjow x Ichigo

**Disclaimer:** I own Bleach and its hot characters… in my dreams.

* * *

"_Outrageous! This… This cannot be!" yelled a silhouette within the darkness._

_What… Where—Where am I?_

"_Unacceptable! There are no facts! Pardon me Aizen-sama,"_

_Aizen?!_

"_I cannot help but agree with the others, we cannot take _him _here! Isn't _he _supposed to be a threat?!" another pale silhouette protested, slamming his fists onto what seemed like a table in the middle of a group who sat and listened intently at the conversation. All seemed to turn to the person sitting in the middle of the elongated table which the party were particularly using to hold serious meetings._

_There was no response. Everyone started chatting about the matter and protesting to the idea that had been relayed not too long ago. Soon, the room was filled with utmost chaos and disarray. There were debates coming from some while others remained still, either uninterested or simply because they had no say about the issue. Then a hand was raised summoning the attention needed from the party. Everyone quieted down, as some took their seats from their standing positions._

"_Friends, let us not forget the main point as to why I gathered everyone here—why we talk about _him_." The composed yet firm voice seemed to echo throughout the room causing invisible waves to move about—waves that possess a force not to be tampered with._

_That voice! It's definitely him!_

"_Can we not find any way to settle this matter in a more _sophisticated _manner?" There was no doubt that in everyone's minds that, that line only meant for them to shut up._

_The man named Aizen shifted, his ears twitched slightly as everyone waited for him to speak._

"_It looks like we have a guest." He said watching the door slide a few inches open. Everyone turned to its direction then assembled some of their subordinates to chase after the intruder._

_Shit! I've got to get out of here!_

_Once the room was half empty, Aizen called forth a person, who once sat with the group, to his side. The person waited patiently for words to come out from Aizen's lips, "I want you to do something for me…"

* * *

_

"ICHIGOOOOOOOO!!!" yelled a loud overexcited man as he tackled the young boy sleeping peacefully on his bed. Without opening his eyes, the redhead responded immediately to this with his own counterattack by grabbing the hyper man by the feet and tossing him to the side. Two girls instantly got out boards saying: Father – 0 and Ichigo - 10.

The redhead kept his eyes closed but opened an eye to peek at his attacker. "Oi 'jii-san, 'still alive?"

The older man twitched which signaled his response as the two girls cheered. Ichigo opened his eyes fully to see the two pulling him towards the kitchen, leaving the now-beaten-up man to himself as he whined. The girl with pastel colored hair walked up to the man and started dragging him to the kitchen as well.

"Itadakimasu." Ichigo stated out rather plainly with a bored yet irritated expression, Ichigo had now been dressed in his school uniform (excluding the tie which he thought would be lame on him). The man, who has now fully recovered, gave a thumb's up. "That's my son for 'ya! If only Masaki were here to see us now." He said, now hugging a poster/picture of a redheaded woman as he soaked his face with overreacting tears.

The girl with the boyish outfit called Karin, turned to Ichigo as they ate, "Ichi-nii, isn't the Karakura festival in a month from now?"

Ichigo nodded in response then waited for her to continue, "What is your class doing for the festival?"

Ichigo thought back to the previous events in school where in they announced that the festival was coming up.

"_Oi minna listen up! Since the festival's coming faster than ever, the class will be deciding about the activity that will be done this year."_

"_Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh..." complained the students within the room._

"_Settle down everyone! I'll be leaving you with your class president to handle this situation." And with that the teacher exited the room and the president took the floor and watched the bored looks the other students were giving him._

"_O-Okay… does anyone have a suggestion?" He asked. The room fell silent. Ichigo wasn't paying much attention to what was being said since all he did was watch the outsides of the windowpane._

"_How about a video program?" A student suggested._

"_No. We did that last year, remember?"_

"_A café?" another suggested. The president thought about it but declined, saying that it was too common. Another suggestion came after the other and soon time came to pass, Ichigo felt an all too _familiar _feeling_ _swirl within him. Then he heard it._

_He raised a hand._

"_Hai Kurosaki-san?"_

_Ichigo thought of an excuse within himself and found one, "I need to be in the nurse's clinic, I don't feel well." Ichigo stated wearily, pretending to be sick._

_The president nodded and Ichigo immediately got out and ran out the school._

Come to think of it, Ichigo never knew what his class was going to do that day. He came back with his class dismissed and forgot about it entirely since he had _other_ matters to attend to. He looked at Karin then spoke, "I don't really know."

"NANI?!?! My son has been absent minded lately!! Oh Masaki! Where have I gone wrong?" His father asked the picture of Ichigo's mother. That's when Karin snapped and threw her shoe on his face. "Urusai!!"

The other girl who was the youngest of the pack named Yuzu started to panic since their father started to grow a huge bump on his head. While this was in session Ichigo finished eating and rose to his feet, taking his bag from the table and out the door. Not too far from the house, he walked towards the school in peace when suddenly a familiar voice called to him.

"IIIIIIIIIIICHIGO!!!" A student whom apparently Ichigo knows from way back tackled Ichigo's back so hard that it caused the redhead to yell at him.

"KEIGO GET THE HELL OFF ME!" The person named Keigo hopped off of Ichigo's back and brooded in one corner muttering things like: "No sense of humor" and "We used to do that all the time".

Another guy, who was shorter than the two walked at a slower pace and greeted Ichigo a good morning before turning to Keigo and pulling him by his bag. Ichigo couldn't help but laugh to him self, despite his being extraordinary he also lived a _very _ordinary life. The three chatted as they strode their way towards the school.

Once they entered the school premises and later their own classroom, they saw other people such as Shinji, Tatsuki, and Chizuru talking amongst their selves. As soon as the trio got in the classroom, they greeted each other and talked to pass the time. It wasn't the same for Ichigo though. Inoue is missing, Rukia and the others were called back to soul society, Chad was being trained, and who knows what's happened to Ishida. It wasn't the same for anyone, but what could they do?

Just as the teacher entered and as class started to begin. A student knocked onto the sliding door. Their teacher opened it and came back with a piece of paper in hand. Everyone watched as the teacher started to write a name on the bored and asked for the student to come in.

"Everyone please welcome Aoi Hyō who just transferred here from his father's business trip last week." Everyone watched the student come in. Ichigo's eyes went wide—so wide that it might pop at any second. The new student had cerulean-blue hair and had a sharp yet bored expression on his face though his sapphire orbs only portrayed that he was definitely calm and at the same time very confident. His face neither held a scowl nor a smile, no expression was confirmed. Ichigo wanted to yell—to scream. This man looked exactly like Grimmjow, the sixth espada! Although the weird thing was that, this man held no trace of reiatsu at all! Not even a _little_.

"Please Aoi-kun, take a seat. Ano… since Inoue-san isn't back please stay there for the time being."

The man named Aoi walked over to his seat and sat down as class continued to go at the same, ordinary pace. Ichigo did not once take his eyes off of the new student and examined his every movement for any signs of him being the arrancar Ichigo thought of him to be. An hour passed after the other, period after period, and to Ichigo's dismay there was not a sign of any suspicious behavior from the cerulean-haired newcomer. But everyone has their limits, don't they? Surely Ichigo was tired from doing this all day…

"_Nothing! None! No trace at all!! Can arrancar seal up their reiatsu as well—?!_"

Ichigo's thoughts were interrupted by an irritated glare coming from the person in the center of Ichigo's thoughts. His eyes were like piercing daggers that can stun you on the spot. He probably noticed Ichigo's glances every five minutes. I mean, who _wouldn't_ notice that?

"Oi,"

"_Shimata!_"

* * *

**A/N:** Yay!! My first try at yaoi/shounen-ai fics!!XD

Although it's my fist try, it doesn't mean it is my first pair. lol. The chapter's quite short actually, it's meant to be like that so as not to reveal too much, but I assure you if I have time I will make the pages extra long. It's been so long since my last update/fic, probably since I was off to school to pull my grades up. Anyway, enough of my random rantings... I'll support this fic till the end, I promise!

Please leave a review, 'kay??X3


	2. Reminisce

**Summary: **After Inoue Orihime's kidnapping incident, Ichigo is not given permission to go into the world of Hueco Mundo. Although this happens, Ichigo plots his move to enter the Hollow world without the Soul society noticing. But what happens when a familiar face enters the scenery? What about the conversations held within the redhead's dreams? Will the truth keep him going or change him forever? Alternate Universe.

**Pairing:** Grimmjow x Ichigo

**Disclaimer:** I own Bleach and its hot characters… in my dreams.

* * *

"_Nothing! None! No trace at all!! Can arrancar seal up their reiatsu as well—?!_" 

Ichigo's thoughts were interrupted by an irritated glare coming from the person in the center of Ichigo's thoughts. His eyes were like piercing daggers that can stun you on the spot. He probably noticed Ichigo's glances every five minutes. I mean, who _wouldn't_ notice that?

"Oi,"

"_Shimata!_"

* * *

Once the two made eye contact, Ichigo immediately looked away, avoiding eye contact. He tried staring at wall for a minute or two then checked to see if those sapphire eyes were still fixed on him. Unfortunately for Ichigo, they were. He immediately diverted his gaze towards the lesson being written on the board by their History teacher. The new student's eyes narrowed. 

"Kurosaki-san, please read pages two hundred sixty-five to two hundred seventy."

Ichigo sighed, stood up and responded. "The Meiji period, a golden time for Japan, flourished during the great emperor, whose accession to the throne marked the beginning of a national revolution known as the Meiji restoration. Due to the many foreign influences, Japan's government strengthened with great speed thanks to Western technology."

Everyone listened intently to what was being said by the red-head except for one, Aoi Hyō. He had been ignoring everything the teachers and his new class had said since this morning up to present. Ichigo wasn't any different. Aoi's eyes had rolled clockwise once their instructor had called for Ichigo's name. He was bored. Apparently, he wasn't in the mood to do anything but glare at the looks that girls were giving him every ten seconds. He was getting very irritated by the second that had come to pass, he was reaching his limit.

"…and this is why they called Meiji the 'enlightened rule'." Ichigo finished and sat back down to his seat. The teacher nodded and a few seconds later, the bell rang. Students flocked over the new student and started to send him each of their questions, something that doesn't happen most often at Karakura High.

"Nee, Aoi-kun… Do—Do you take special care of your skin? It's so smooth!" A female student asked, brushing her fingertips with his skin. Aoi's eyes sharpened, but tried to contain him self.

"Oi, oi! Aoi-kun do you read porn magazines like these??" A male student asked, taking out a luggage from out of nowhere onto Aoi's table, he opened it and there it was… the shiny collection.

The luggage seemed to shimmer in bright light as all the other male students (except Aoi and Ichigo of course…) bowed down and chanted altogether; "We're not worthy, we're not worthy…"

"Gaaaaaaah!!!" The girls screamed in terror, each hitting the boys with mallets that come from out of nowhere.

Ichigo watched as the students of his class go into utter chaos. Some men turned into little chibis as they were chased by the women with flares in their eyes, trying to pound the guys into pancakes by the large mallets they held. The others were too concentrated on interrogating this new student by asking him every question possible, and yes, they were fans of his since Ichigo overheard them ask if he was wearing either boxers or briefs.

Ichigo bowed his head down and sighed, pitying the new guy. He somehow thought this would be his class's reaction since Karakura High did not accept that many students, especially in-between semesters, so practically this was all a miracle that this student was able to get in. But then again…

Ichigo's face observed Aoi. His face, his gesture, his response… Did it all seem really _normal_? Was there no evidence at all that this man—this man could have been the sixth espada? He looked normal, true, but was that _it_? _Nothing_? Not even the slightest trace of spirit energy filled this guy… It was probably just a coincidence.

"Ichigo!"

"Mmph?" The red-head immediately snapped back into reality noticing that the students have left and the room was completely empty, only Keigo at the door.

"Ichigo, mind if you turn the lights off for me? I have and errand to do," Keigo's face went pale as he muttered softly so only he would hear, "for that witch…"

Ichigo turned to his things and started to pack up, and without even looking at Keigo, he responded, "Yeah, I don't mind… go already."

"Thanks, I owe you one." Keigo said with a sad grin on his face together with a small salute before dashing off and leaving Ichigo all to himself. Once Ichigo had packed up he shut the windows, turned of the lights and closed the doors.

Dusk had been drawing near and yet some students still remained within the school's premises. It had been rather cold one everything grew dark, Ichigo wanted to leave before that happened. Things hadn't been at its usual these past few days. Without Soul Society's consent, Ichigo could not go after Inoue. He blamed himself for not being able to save her, "_If only I had finished him at that moment instead of showing off… I—I could have saved her…_"

Ichigo cursed. He knew fully well that by thinking of such thoughts, things would not change. He knew that even though he continuously blamed himself for her absence, things would not change. He knew this and this was why he blamed himself even more. He _knew_ about it, but he couldn't do anything to prevent it. He needed to know how to get in Hueco Mundo… but most of all, he needed to become _stronger_.

His walk towards home felt stiff. He stopped his tracks to watch the sun, silently retreat and prepare for another cold, starry night. The breezed blew past the grass, like a child running around the park while looking for someone to play with. The pale orange sky seemed to mirror that of the flames within chimneys as well as the color of Ichigo's hair. The scene reminded him of what it was like before… right after they stormed back to help save Soul Society.

"_Iiiiichi-goooo!" __yelled a small stuffed bird that had run its way to grab onto Ichigo's neck. Ichigo turned around to see who it was when it immediately grabbed hold of Ichigo, catching him off-guard._

"_W-Wha?? Ririn?" Ichigo grabbed hold of the little stuffed bird as it struggled to get loose._

"_Waah! Let me go! Let me go!" Ririn yelled, flapping her wings back and forth, trying to get herself free. Ichigo, in one way or another, complied, setting the petite figure to stand on the ground with her hands on her hips._

_Ichigo looked at her as she tidied herself quickly then quickly jumped back onto Ichigo. "Urahara sent me to pick you."_

"_Urahara?"_

"_Yeah, he said for you to meet him near the river, I guess…" Ririn shook her head and sighed, "Really now, why do we have to do all the chores in the house, the guys really seems to love asking people to do his dirty work."_

_Ichigo merely smiled, he looked up to the sky to see it already turning dark since the sun was setting. It had been a week since the incident; the bounto wasn't what everyone wanted to talk about… especially Ishida. Nevertheless the experience did challenge everyone to become stronger, it kept everyone _together

_It wasn't long till Ichigo reached the river__; it was just a few blocks away from where Ririn and Ichigo met earlier. He didn't seem at all excited about seeing Urahara since he knew he would be asked to do something for the man again. Ichigo didn't complain though, he was the opposite, he was grateful for what Urahara had been doing for him and his friends. A little thing like this wouldn't matter, he thought._

"_Kurosaki-kun!" __called out a familiar female voice._

"_Ah! Inoue!" Ichigo caught her waving like as kid near the river with several others. Once he had caught up to her, he noticed that the others were sitting on tables and chairs, while Chad was at one end cooking up barbeque._

"_What's going on, Inoue?" Ichi__go asked, scratching the back of his head in bewilderment. There he saw the others such as Ishida, Nova, and Ururu on the table, each minding their own business. Jinta practiced his pitching skills and sometimes used Kon as the ball. Kon on the other hand was stirring up trouble by trying to jump into Inoue's arms but would fail every single time since Tsubaki would mysteriously pop up to attack the stuffed lion leaving him, twitching on the ground afterwards. Everything seemed to come back to normal, it was quiet, it was peaceful… well, except the fact that Kon would end up yelling after getting beat by the black fairy around Inoue._

"_Ahh, Kurosaki-san here you are, the final installment." A man said coming from behind, his striped hat covering part of his face, he fanned himself as Tessai walked over from behind Urahara to Chad, brining with him more materials for a barbeque feast._

"_Ah! Urahara-san, kon'nichi wa!" Inoue greeted and bowed her head for a few seconds before rising up to meet him. He smiled as well, "Kon'nichi wa, Inoue-san."_

"_Ririn, come help Chad and Tessai grill the barbeque, onegai?" Urahara asked, addressing the stuffed bird to leave the three for a while. _

"_Hai." She responded and quickly jumped off Ichigo's back and walked towards the two tall men._

"_Kurosaki-san, Inoue-san, I hope you don't mind that we all have a little get together now don't you?"_

"_N-No not at all!" Inoue immediately replied._

"_What's this all about?" Ichigo asked getting quite annoyed since his question wasn't answered._

"_Why? It's a celebration! A feast for the heroes that saved Soul society!"_

_Ichigo and Inoue crouched down to whisper at each other, "Heroes? He's over reacting isn't he?" Ichigo asked in a soft voice, Inoue agreed, nodding several times when Urahara caught sight of this._

"_Nan'da? I'm telling the truth!"_

_They continued to whisper, "He lies." Ichigo said and Inoue agreed nodding her head a few more times._

"_Anyway, Kurosaki-__san how is your training coming along?"_

_Ichigo's face darkened a little, "Fine, it didn't start officially though. _They _made me do ridiculous things."_

_Urahara had already known about Ichigo's Hollow self and the vaizards. He had noticed Ichigo's actions these past few days and decided to lighten his spirits up a bit by having him and his friends have a day off for a change._

"_Ooooiii! Ichigo! The food's ready!!" Ririn yelled aloud as Tessai and Chad served the food on the long picnic table. The scent of barbeque filled the area as the red sun slowly made its way to its one-day slumber. Ichigo, Inoue and Urahara walked down the slope to reach the table and eat with their group of friends._

"_Kurosaki, what took you so long?" Ishida asked, implying that the red-head was late, only to annoy him as he adjusted his glasses._

"_Whatever…" Ichigo said with an annoyed look. Inoue laughed at this and so did the others. The three took their seats and ate to their hear hearts content._

_After a few minutes, it was getting dark and the wind that blew past the group of friends ushered for them to leave while a part of the sun still remained.__ Everyone helped each other pack up and before five minutes, they finished. The others had left early, Chad had to help bring the things back to Urahara's shop so he had to leave with Urahara and his team, and Ishida said that he had other matters to attend to but thanked Urahara just the same. Only Inoue and Ichigo were left, and only one-fourth of the sun's brightness remained._

"_Inoue, what are you going?" Ichigo asked, approaching the red-headed girl who was apparently talking to her fairies._

"_Ah! Kurosaki-kun!" Inoue flinched, hearing his voice all of the sudden sent shivers to run down her spine. "W-What are you still doing here?"_

"_I was wondering if you wanted me to walk you home." Ichigo replied, scratching the back of his head._

"_Eh?! There's no need for you to do that Kurosaki-kun, I can go home myself!" Inoue exclaimed pointing at herself. He smiled, rubbing her hair roughly._

"_Waah!" Inoue was caught off-guard, she flailed in a playful way when he let go._

"_Baka, it's getting dark, Chizuru'll kill me if I let you off yourself, kora, i__kumashō." Ichigo said and smiled, he signaled for her to walk beside him. She blushed in the shade of dark pink but shook her head and agreed._

_If you were there watching, the two seemed so much like a couple as they walked the streets. Inoue would share to him things about her happiest moments down to the most embarrassing ones. Ichigo laughed at her jokes and enjoyed her company, little did he know a seed had already begun to sprout._

Ichigo sighed, he checked the once red-orange skies had become bluish-purple. It was getting late and it had become unbelievably cold. He started to walk down the path to his house with his book bag on his back. Once he had reached a junction, an unexpected face was seen standing by the alley walls. It didn't seem as though he saw the red-head since his eyes were closed.

Blue hair… blue eyes… and arrogant face. Who _else_ could it have been? Ichigo glared at him, the new student, Aoi Hyō. His proud exterior made Ichigo sick, this guy and Grimmjow had that in common, every time Ichigo would see either one he would immediately see red, even if neither did anything to him. It was probably like that with all the other arrancar. The guy opened his bored eyes half way, taking a cigarette out from his black leather coat's pocket to his mouth, taking a lighter from his denim jeans' pocket to light the cigarette. Ichigo scowled.

Aoi took one deep breath from it as put back the lighter in one of his pockets and breathed out, approaching the irritated red-head. He stopped once he had reached the side of Ichigo.

He spoke in one cold, icy breath, "Yo… Kurosaki Ichigo."

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**A/N: **Whoa! So many reviews! Thank you very much! I really appreciate it! (smiles) 

Warui, warui... I'm really sorry I had updated late. Something came up. I did promise to update faster but I guess it couldn't be helped. Anyway, I think I'll post the next chapter within this week, depending on my schedule. XD (-Studies come first!-)

Oh noes! I think there may be some IchiHime here in this chapter! (shields oneself from all you readers' attacks)

Lol. Don't worry, despite that I will keep pursuing the pair GrimmIchi! Nyaaa!X3 For those of you who want to know about Aoi, you'll just have to keep reading! (grins)

Anyway, enough of this very long author notes, I've probably bored you long enough. Thank you for reading and I do hope you leave a review. Till next time, ja'nee!


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